IF only....

[BigHoss]

Hello all,

About a month and a half ago we (my wife and I) decided to start a fish tank for our 6 year old son.

So I go to Petco and talk to the fish department specialist. Being this is our first time I chose a 12gal Eclipse bowfront with the Bio-wheel filtration. The so called specialist said to set the tank up and let it run for 24-48 hrs and i'm ready for fish. Now, like an idiot I listened to him. So I take my son back to Petco to buy some fish. The same guy was there. I asked him how many fish I should start off with and he told me I could start with 8 total fish. So I bought 2 emerald cory, 3 ghost shrimp (my son HAD to have them) that he said didn't count, 4 zebra danios, 2 platys (1 mickey mouse, 1 bumblebee).

My son was sooo happy he even named his fish. Everything's good right?

WRONG!

WRONG!

WRONG!

On the second day after putting the fish in the tank, 2 fish are dead. I'm thinking "what the ****..." Meanwhile my son is crying his eyes out for finneas and steve. So I pat myself on the back for keeping the receipt and bring the fish back to Petco. They test my water and tell me my ammonia is too high and I should buy a test kit. Then he replaces the 2 dead fish.

Now, once I get home I open the test kit and start reading. At this point in my experience was the first time I had even heard of cycling. I do a test and my ammonia was reading 8ppm OUCH!!! I did a 50% water change and tested again and got 4. I did another 50% change and tested again, 2ppm this time. My Ph was and still is at 7.4

On the fourth day 3 more fish are dead. I'm starting to get a complex. I test the water again ammo= 8, Nitrite= 0, Nitrate= 0. So I repeat the steps from above. Except this time they tell me I need AmQuel to remove the toxic properties of the ammonia that is killing the fish.

This is turning into a nightmare....

Then I decide I need to get some help.... And I found this WONDERFUL place called AQUARIUM ADVICE. I wish I had heard of a fishless cycle (or any kind of cycle) before I started. It is my fault for not doing the research beforehand but you live and learn I guess.

After reading A LOT of posts on here I have gotten things under control (I think). I now only have 4 fish left 2 danios and the 2 platys. Oh yeah and Larry, Moe, and Curly (the ghost shrimp).

I've been testing everyday and doing pwc after any ammo reading higher than 2. My tank is FINALLY starting to cycle. Today The readings were Ammo= 2, Nitrite= 0, Nitrate= 5 (i think its between 5 and 10. It's not quite as red as 10 but more than the yellow/orange of 5).

Sorry for the long post... but, I had to share my stupidity of not researching this hobby beforehand.

Now I do have Questions... When can I add more fish and what kind would be good for a community of peacful and colorful fish? What is a good Nitrate level to be at?

Thanks for all the great info you guys have on this forum.

 

[tinkster87]

Hey, welcome to AA!

So how long has the tank been running since you set it up?

The ammonia level really needs to be lower than 0.25ppm and def no higher than 0.50ppm otherwise your fish will become stressed, ill and die. So basically you be doing almost 50% wc daily. Even when you ammonia drops to 0 you still need to keep the Nitrite levels very low as these are also deadly to your fish.

If you have not already read it, you should read I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?!

Are you using a good dechlorinator like Seachem Prime?

I would go into detail but that guide will explain it all for you. In order to get Nitrate you must have got Nitrite first, has your Nitrite slowly risen and spiked then dropped down to 0? or has it just never moved from 0?

Its always advisable to return the fish and do a fishless cycle.

 

[jetajockey]

4-6 weeks of the tank running with fish in it is usually what it takes to get cycled. Your test kit will tell you for sure, though, when the ammonia/nitrites stay at 0 and the nitrates steadily rise you will be in business.

Amquel+ and Prime are basically the same, so you are good to go with that.

I would not add anything to the tank, even if something dies, don't replace anything and give it a few weeks to get cycled. The more fish in the tank the harder it is to maintain a low toxin level.

Keep feeding at a minimum, a little bit once every day or two would be best, and plan to do water change every day to every other day until the tank starts processing ammonia. Your test kit will give you an idea of when the water neesd to be changed, but the basic idea is to keep ammonia and nitrite as low as possible.

Once the tank is established, a month or so from now, a good target is to keep nitrates below 20.

 

[BigHoss]

Hey, welcome to AA!

So how long has the tank been running since you set it up?

The ammonia level really needs to be lower than 0.25ppm and def no higher than 0.50ppm otherwise your fish will become stressed, ill and die. So basically you be doing almost 50% wc daily. Even when you ammonia drops to 0 you still need to keep the Nitrite levels very low as these are also deadly to your fish.

If you have not already read it, you should read I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?!

Are you using a good dechlorinator like Seachem Prime?

I would go into detail but that guide will explain it all for you. In order to get Nitrate you must have got Nitrite first, has your Nitrite slowly risen and spiked then dropped down to 0? or has it just never moved from 0?

Its always advisable to return the fish and do a fishless cycle.

Yes I've read that article. I'm using AmQuel every pwc and I never saw a rise in nitrite at all. I forgot to mention that I got a used sponge from a well established aquarium at my work and put one in my filter and one in the tank by the inlet to the filter. Today I tested and got Ammo=.25 nitrite =0 nitrate=20.

 

[BigHoss]

4-6 weeks of the tank running with fish in it is usually what it takes to get cycled. Your test kit will tell you for sure, though, when the ammonia/nitrites stay at 0 and the nitrates steadily rise you will be in business.

Amquel+ and Prime are basically the same, so you are good to go with that.

I would not add anything to the tank, even if something dies, don't replace anything and give it a few weeks to get cycled. The more fish in the tank the harder it is to maintain a low toxin level.

Keep feeding at a minimum, a little bit once every day or two would be best, and plan to do water change every day to every other day until the tank starts processing ammonia. Your test kit will give you an idea of when the water neesd to be changed, but the basic idea is to keep ammonia and nitrite as low as possible.

Once the tank is established, a month or so from now, a good target is to keep nitrates below 20.

After killing several fish taking them back to get them replaced and killing them again I just quit putting fish in. I did manage to save the 2 remaining danios and 2 platy and the 3 ghost shrimps with daily wc and testing. However after several weeks of that and seeing no increase in nitrites I got some media from my work and tried seeding. I think I may be cycled now cuz after having put those sponges in my ammo dropped considerably fast and I now have readings of ammo=.25 nitrite=0 (they never changed) nitrate=20. My tank has been up and running for 2 months total

 

[librarygirl]

Not quite cycled, but probably close, the media seems to have helped. Ammonia would be 0 if the tank was truly cycled. Just keep an eye on it and do a pwc if it goes any higher than that. Keep an eye on nitrates too, ideally you want those to stay under 20 (these are usually kept low by pwc 1-2x per week depending on how fast they rise). Good luck.

 

[BigHoss]

Not quite cycled, but probably close, the media seems to have helped. Ammonia would be 0 if the tank was truly cycled. Just keep an eye on it and do a pwc if it goes any higher than that. Keep an eye on nitrates too, ideally you want those to stay under 20 (these are usually kept low by pwc 1-2x per week depending on how fast they rise). Good luck.

I'm going to check again tonight. The way it's been going the last few days the ammo should be zero (fingers crossed). How long should I leave the sponges in the tank? And the real question is when can I add fish after an ammo reading of 0?